#48 Our Decision is Final
Karmi's head and body felt completely and utterly exhausted as a dull pain radiated throughout it despite currently being on morphine; this was the lingering sensation in her mind as she saw nothing but blackness, confusion and grogginess arising as she started to come to. As the seconds ticked on by, she also registered the sensation of feeling like her nose was stuffed as well as she was laying something soft, only adding to her perplexed state while she tried to deduce her location. The biotech major's curiosity and determination eventually beat out her weariness as she forced her eyelids open, first as barely a slit and then slowly wider as her vision started to return.
After a couple blinks, her world came back into focus as she saw she was in a moderately-sized room with blue wallpaper and a large window to her right with a cream-colored curtain over it. Opposite of her, a TV hung up on the wall and a small wooden table with several flower vases on it resided below. There also was a drawn white curtain around the bed she was in, tucked under a seat of teal sheets.
A hospital? was the first deduction the young teen made as her face scrunched up in confusion. She then gingerly turned her stiff neck to the left to find a heart monitor placed next to the mattress along with a stand holding four IV bags; from her supine position, she could make out one as saline, which was normal, but the others looked like they could be various antibiotics and electrolytes.
What happened? Karmi wondered while her mind still felt like a muddled mess. Tentatively, she raised her left arm to confirm she had a line going into her vein, followed by moving the stiff limb to her face. She felt the oxygen tube in her nose first, explaining why something felt off there, then traced along the rest of her head, not finding anything particularly painful like stitches or a bruise.
Nothing wrong there, she internally noted as she moved her arm to her neck and suddenly froze. On the left side of her neck, she felt a square gauze patch taped to her skin, which she knew for a fact was not originally there.
When did I-As her fingers grazed the injury, her mind rapidly conjured images of Chris restraining her as Liv came at her with some type of gun, somehow making it to SFIT, Hiro finding her under her desk, and searing pain as things cascaded into a jumbled mess of claws and an overwhelming sense of anger. Karmi's heart rate increased almost instantly as her breathing became fast and erratic too. A sheen of sweat quickly began to form as her heart monitor beeped in alarm, which was soon followed by a nurse with red hair entering to see what was going on.
Not wasting any time, the older woman was by the teenager's side and proceeded to prep a sedative into the IV line, but the effects were not immediate as Karmi managed to frantically and desperately get out, "What-ha-happened?"
The nurse just looked at her sympathetically and patted her arm, trying to keep her still and calm her down as she said, "You went through an unfortunate ordeal honey, but they've got you almost all better now and your parents are on their way. Now, just focus on taking deep, slow breaths."
Karmi's systems in fact went on high alert as she heard the word "Parents," causing her panic to still persist as she gasped, "No! They can't! I mean-I don't want them to see-I-I just no! They'll just-"
She continued to hyperventilate and incoherently speech for a few more seconds, but thanks to her elevated heart rate, the sedative coursed through her veins at an accelerated rate and slowly started to pull her back into unconsciousness. "They won't understand. They'll be…so…mad…I still…have things…I…want…to…"Karmi petered off into a mumble as the medicine did its job, eventually rendering her breathing back to a slow, stable level and the teenager herself asleep for the next few hours.
"Karmi."
"Karmi, you can fight this."
"You're the smartest person I know."
"I care about you."
Hiro?
"Karmi."
Is that you?
Suddenly, the 14yr old appeared before her, distorted with her vision tinged in red and looking at her with concern and possibly pain.
Why do I feel so mad at you? Like I want to hurt you?
"Karmi, you can fight this."
Fight what? I don't…all this just seems so wrong and…ugh, my head.
"You're the smartest person I know."
What? You…you mean that? I…always thought you were amazing too…you know that, right? We…we're friends now, aren't we?
"I care about you."
I…yeah…I care about you too. What…what am I doing? What's going on? I-I don't want this! Whatever's happening, I've got to stop it and get Hiro out of danger!
...aaah! It hurts so much, but I-I can't give up! I need-
"…think she's going to be okay?"
Who said that?
"…almost fully recovered. She was fortunate that it was only for a short period of time."
Are they talking about me?
"How long will she be asleep?"
Wait. I know that voice.
"She should be coming around soon. I imagine you have a lot to discuss."
Karmi groaned softly as she slowly cracked her eyes open once more, not saying a word as she regained her vision. She saw she was in the same hospital room as before, but this did little to calm the anxious feeling growing in her as she turned her head towards the door. It was left open just ajar with someone's shadow bleeding in, so Karmi concentrated to listen in on them.
"Yes, we certainly have," came a female voice that made the biotech's eyes go wide in shock.
"Mom?" she croaked out, unable to control her surprise despite being informed earlier about them coming. A moment later, the door was swiftly swung open as Karmi's mom, dad and her doctor stood at the threshold. Her mom Sophia had slightly lighter skin that Karmi with her dark chocolate-colored hair flowing down to her shoulders while her dad Ramy had a tad darker complexion with several freckles dotting his face, short black hair and he wore glasses; as for the doctor coming in behind them, her nametag read "Ida" and had curly auburn hair tied up into a pony tail, fairer skin and wore glasses as well. The three adults seemed rather caught off-guard to see Karmi awake as they all approached the bed, with her parents moving to her right side and Karmi's mom taking her hand while the doctor remained on her left.
"Hi there Karmi. How is everything? Any pain or stiffness?" Ida gently inquired with her bedside manner training on full effect as she gave a warm smile.
Feeling overwhelmed for a moment as she looked between the three people, the teenager swallowed thickly before she faced her physician and answered, "I guess…I am a little stiff…and thirsty too."
"Of course," Ida replied with a nod as she pushed the call nurse button and instructed, "We'll need some water brought in to Room 372 please. Thank you," followed by hanging up.
Karmi then turned to her parents again as they both has misty eyes of worry while they smiled with relief. "Hey sweetie. We came as soon as the hospital called. Everything's going to be okay," Sophia reassured her daughter as she rubbed her thumb over the back of her daughter's hand.
Do…do they know what happened to me? the 16yr old anxiously wondered as she remained silent. A few seconds later, a red-headed nurse came in with a glass of water and a straw, which was passed to Karmi's father as he held it up to her so she could get some relief for her throat.
Once Karmi finished her drink, Ida picked her inquiry back up with, "So, do you remember what we brought you in for dear? It's okay if you don't, but if there's something important we missed, it'd be best to correct our oversight."
The biotech prodigy smacked her lips as she briefly furrowed her brow in thought. "I…I was…at school and then…there were claws. My friend Hiro…" Karmi suddenly gasped and rapidly sat up, momentarily hissing with pain as she pushed through it to frantically ask, "Is Hiro okay? He was with me and-and did something horrible happen to him too? I need-"
"Shh. There's no need to fret. I believe the one you're referring to was there at Sycorax, but he appeared fine when the EMTs came to take you to the hospital," her doctor informed her, causing the other to just sit there as she processed what she was told and gradually slowed her breathing back to a more stable rhythm.
He's okay. He's okay.
Ida let relative silence hang for another minute before looking at her patient sympathetically and continued with, "I'm afraid that while you do seem to be recovering well, your body was found having an implant and from what we could tell, left you drained of vital electrolytes, muscles shocked with minute signs of the start of atrophy and strain on all your ligaments. It was most fortunate that the device was disabled in case it might have caused permanent damage."
As soon as her doctor said "Implant," Karmi's hand felt for the bandaged neck, eyes wide in terror as her mind briefly flashed the memory of Chris and Di (although she didn't know it was actually Di).
"Sycorax?" Sophia repeated in confusion, then quickly morphed into horror as realization set in and she turned to her husband, who mirrored her expression.
"Karmi, the place you worked at did this to you?! What kind of unethical, cruel monster does this to someone, let alone a child?" Ramy uttered in anger and shook as he looked at his daughter, but before the young woman could voice out that she wasn't a child, her dad continued with his dissention. "It was bad enough hearing about the increase in villain activity and all the attacks on campus, not to mention the star incident, but this…I-I just don't think we can handle this anymore," Ramy initially vented out in fury, only to transition into a tone of exhaustion and resolve as he faced Sohpia. Karmi's mom bit her lip while the tears she had held back finally streamed down her cheeks, giving a slow nod a moment later.
The teenager initially watched dumbfoundedly as she pieced together what they were talking about, but a cold wave of panic overcame her once she figured it out. "No, please don't," Karmi begged, gripping her mom's hand tighter as her eyes flitted between her parents.
They remained firm though as Sophia let out a tired sigh and frankly told the other, "I'm sorry sweetie, but you can't expect us to be okay with this. There has been so much danger this past year and how many times did we have to hear about it secondhand from the news, only for us to spiral and need to call you to confirm you were alright?"
Karmi cast her eyes away for a moment in guilt at the truth those words held, not intending to make her folks worry but it simply was that the incidents slipped her mind most of the time; she did remember the parts with Captain Cutie very well however as good or bad, it felt amazing to be so close to someone she thought was so cool and handsome. She returned her gaze back to her mom and argued, "I know you're worried, but my life is here with all my research and even my friends. You can't just uproot me and take me back to Carseñora! I'm involved in some groundbreaking work that could help save a lot of people. Isn't that important?"
Despite Karmi's own points of protest, the response she got was another exhale, but from her father this time before he countered with, "Yes Karmi, it's important, but it shouldn't be put above your life. You are the most important thing in the world to us and what kind of parents would we be if we didn't intervene when you keep being subjected to such dangerous situations?"
The teenager's lip quivered for a moment in fear of losing this fight, followed by swallow dryly and steeling herself to emphatically tell them, "Plenty of people put their lives on the line every day to do the right thing and help others. I want to be someone who can do that! I helped save Orso Knox, I found a cure for someone suffering a horrible affliction and even aided in stopping the Mayoi that took over the city! That mattered mom and dad, and I made through it okay."
Now she seemed to earn her parents' ire as they frowned with stern looks and Sophia beseeched, "But that is exactly what we're talking about! You shouldn't have to face things like Mayoi or whatever happened at Sycorax! You are so intelligent Karmi and we're so proud of what you accomplished, but you are still only sixteen and should be thinking about actually having a future instead of potentially losing your life and us our daughter." She then sighed as a few more tears were shed and glanced away from Karmi as Ramy wrapped an arm around her.
Her father turned to her a moment later and with a heavy expression, firmly stated, "I'm sorry Karmi, but this discussion is over. You're moving back home with us once you're out of the hospital. Maybe we can find another school to go to, one that's safer and doesn't have to deal with this chaos." He along with Sophia proceeded to stand up as their daughter was left stunned and wide-eyed, struggling to find the right words to help her case, but they just kept getting further away.
"Please…I don't want to leave here," Karmi managed to quietly beg and actually getting her parents to pause; any hope she had though was dashed as the pair looked at each other for a moment and bowed their heads before Sophia faced her again to bluntly say, "We can't always get what we want sweetie. We love you though and hope one day you'll understand why we're doing this, but we promise it'll all work out in the end." And with that said, they turned and left the room, still visibly upset as they held each other close.
The teen prodigy just stared in utter shock as any stiffness or residual pain was washed away with cold despair. Her eyes then found their way to Ida, who had the unfortunate pleasure of witnessing all of this transpire, and appeared to hold regret that she hadn't stopped it.
"Isn't there anything you can do?" she couldn't help but desperately ask despite knowing the answer.
Her doctor proceeded to sadly sigh as she clasped her hands together and gazed at Karmi with great sympathy. "I'm sorry, but unless there's a case for abuse or it's a matter of life and death for you to stay here, I can't override their legal authority as your guardians." Ida exhaled again as she put a comforting hand on the other's shoulder and gently eased her back into bed. "You should try to rest some more. I know it won't be easy, given what's just happened, but there's nothing else that can be done until you're dismissed in a day or so. Again, I'm so sorry for all of this hitting you at once. Is there anything else you need from me?"
It took Karmi several seconds to even acknowledge that she had heard the doctor as she let her head listlessly turn towards the window, tears already welling up as she eventually replied in a hollow tone, "No." Her physician still waited a couple seconds in case Karmi changed her mind, but when no follow-up answer came, she quietly made her exit, leaving the young woman to her swirling thoughts and strong emotions.
I can't believe they're taking me away…there's so much I didn't get to do, and…I may not know all that happened to me, but uprooting my life here? I just…Karmi thought as she reflexively closed her eyes tight in pain and guilt. I'm so sorry Hiro. I never got to thank you or tell you how grateful I am to have you for a friend. To know you care about me and were there when I was in trouble is probably the nicest, bravest thing anyone has ever done for me…besides Captain Cutie of course.
As she opened her eyes once more and gazed at the window, she felt her own resolve return as she told herself, I promise, I'll do my best to try and tell you all this one day; you at least deserve that, and I won't let this setback keep me from helping people like I know we did the other day. I just hope you'll be alright too while I'm gone.
Karmi turned to face the ceiling again, still full of unrest at what the future was going to hold now thanks to this massive derailment, but she proved multiple times already that she could overcome unimaginable odds, so it truly was just a matter of time and determination until this too would pass.
NOTES
While sad, I can't say that Karmi's parents weren't valid in wanting to take their daughter home because in all honesty, if you saw your child like that along with all the other dangers that have happened in San Fransokyo over the course of a year, it'd be bad parenting to not think about removing your child from that environment, even if it's against their wishes. / I do feel bad for Karmi though since she does love going to school, doing important work and now can say she has a friend in Hiro, so moving away without even saying goodbye just hurts. ;_;
I'm sorry that these long breaks keep happening, but I currently only have two stories left on reserve, so I'll probably do 6 weeks this time. / Sorry, but while I still love BH6, it's just been harder to churn stories out in a timely manner thanks to the fact I've written 50 individual stories already in addition to several solo ones along with focusing on my other fandom/working on fanart. /
The next "Cutscenes" will be Globby meeting up with the rest of BH6 during "Countdown to Catastrophe." :)